The invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for inhibiting tangling of a cables, and, more particularly of cables attached to a movable member capable of rotation or translation.
There is a need for inhibiting tangling of wires, cables, and/or tubes, particularly when attached to a movable member capable of rotation or translation. Examples often are found in manufacturing, such as semiconductor processing, where various translating and/or rotating members are used to move wafers from one point to another and where rotating or translating tools are used to manipulate or act upon stationary wafers.
For example, one such apparatus in semiconductor processing is a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) machine, a common version of which is illustrated in FIG. 1 and utilizes a rotating cross-shaped member 10 having rotating heads 20 to polish semiconductor wafers (not shown). Conventionally, a number of cables, such as control and power cables, and tubes, such as vacuum tubes, are routed from various external sources and are connected to the rotating member shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2A, these cables and tubes 30 are stacked and routed through, for example, a plurality of upright stanchions 40 defining a channel extending from a periphery of a top part of the CMP machine to a central portion of the top part of the CMP machine. FIG. 2B shows the stacked cables and tubes 30 exiting from this channel and entering a collar hole 50 located above the rotating member 10 shown in FIG. 1 to be attached thereto. However, over time, fretting and tangling of the cables and tubes is caused by the repetitive twisting of the cables and tubes, leading to system downtime to permit technicians to manually untangle the cables and tubes from one another and a loss of productivity.
Thus, an advantage of the invention is in providing an apparatus and method for guiding a plurality of cables, wires, and/or tubes through a cable run, inhibiting or preventing tangling and thereby reducing equipment down time and improving productivity.
According to the present invention, the above and other aspects are achieved in part by providing, in one preferred embodiment, a cable support apparatus, including a support brace having a plurality of legs together at least partially surrounding a cable run for a plurality of cables, wherein a side of the legs opposite the cable run is formed with a plurality of spaced apart passages for separating and guiding the plurality of cables with respect to the cable run.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus includes a support brace having a plurality of legs together configured for establishing a cable run for a plurality of cables. This support brace also has a plurality of passages at least partially circumscribing the cable run for separating and guiding the plurality of cables between an external source and the cable run.
In accord with still another aspect of the invention, a method for inhibiting tangling of a plurality of cables attached to a movable member capable of a rotating and/or a translating motion, includes passing a plurality of cables to be connected to a movable member through a corresponding plurality of cable passages in a first direction along an outer portion of a cable support brace fixedly mounted relative to the movable member. The plurality of cables are secured within the plurality of cable passages and are turned in a second direction substantially opposite the first direction, passed through at least one opening in an interior portion of the cable support brace, and connected to a movable member vertically displaced from the cable guide in the second direction.
Additional aspects of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description, wherein only the preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown and described, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated for carrying out the present invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.